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Sunday, July 2, 2017

Audiobooks Part 2: Egad! I Have a Narrator.

Egad, I Have a Narrator. Now What?

I posted the audition to ACX. The first response came that
evening and then one or two a day; some were okay, some were, let’s just say,
not so okay. I even got a message from a woman who wanted to submit an audition,
but had to finish another audiobook and wouldn’t be available for a few weeks.
That cheered me. If she already worked on an audiobook, she couldn’t be awful.
She wanted to know when the audition closed. Hmm. Hadn’t thought about that. I
figured this would be a long process, so I said July 15. I looked for a way on
ACX to post the audition date. Couldn’t find one. Stupid ACX.

Narrations continued to arrive. None of them grabbed me, but
I was too unsure to hit the delete button. As I listened to more, the okay ones
started to sound the same as if the narrators practiced together; the same
tones, the same inflection, the same reading. I began to worry. Maybe the okay
auditions were really great, but I couldn’t feel it because I wanted the
impossible. When I write, the characters speak in my head as clearly as if they
were real people. (Sometime clearer, but let’s not get into my mental health
issues.) How can I expect anyone to capture what’s inside me?

Then I discovered a wonderful truth. I can’t, but the right narrator
doesn’t need my voice. She has one of her own and can add something different,
but equally good, to a book. Less than a
week after posting the audition I found Cass, a professional voice actor in
California. Her reading was so far above the others, I had no doubt she was the
one.

Next came the hard part. I had to reject the other
narrators. Writers get plenty of rejections. If I printed out all the ones I
received over the years I’d be able to wallpaper every room in my house with
enough left over to whip up stylish curtains for the windows. It hurts a little
less with a polite rejection because you can delude yourself someone actually
read the submission. The worst is the black hole. You slave over a proposal or
submission, email it, and then…nothing. The agent or publisher is too busy
sipping their lattes to send a canned rejection. They don’t even bother to
assign it to the unpaid intern. He’s busy polishing their shoes and wondering
if it’s too late to apply for that salesclerk job at Old Navy. I’m sure actors
get as many rejections as writers, so I determined all who submitted an
audition would get an easy let-down with a kind, but encouraging email from me.

But first, the offer. If Cass didn’t accept, I was back to
square one. I sent a message through ACX and told her how much I enjoyed the audition
and an offer was coming. I also mentioned terms were negotiable, since I
didn’t want a rejection over a minor issue. She was thrilled. I sent it through the ACX site; flat fee, but was fine with split royalties if she wanted
to go that route. I also listed the deadline for the first fifteen minutes
(the first chapter check), and then the final deadline. She accepted immediately, no changes necessary. Whoo-hoo!
I went back to the list of auditions to start the polite rejections.

Curse you, ACX!

As soon as an offer is accepted the site deletes the contact information for other auditioners. Nothing warned me ahead of
time. My stomach hurt thinking about those poor people waiting in the black hole. Will ACX notify them I chose another? Will they do it kindly?

Fortunately, ACX only deleted those who actually auditioned,
so I was still able to send a message to the nice woman who wanted to know the
deadline. I explained that I expected to keep auditions opened to the 15th, but
found a narrator right away. I wished her luck in future endeavors. She sent me
a thank-you note.

Lessons Learned

The narrator doesn’t need to copy the author's idea of a character’s voice. A talented narrator will bring her own skill and
interpretation and an author may even like her interpretation better. Shut up, voices
in my head.

ACX needs work. Amazon owns the world. Can’t they spend a
few extra bucks to hire some techs to get the bugs out of the system and make the site easier to use?

Offer a narrator both flat fee and split royalty for payment,
but be prepared to pay. Voice actors like to eat, too, and I believe most want
money up front. If I only offered split royalty, I’d still be waiting for a
narrator.

Fascinating journey. I'm surprised you had so many narrators offer to read your script. I suppose that will change once more authors put their books up on ACX. Good for you to go through this process and share your adventures. Thanks.